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j^ome  bife  in  Mexico. 


It  is  said  of  the  French,  that  their  language 
contains  no  word  equivalent  to  home,  in  an  Eng¬ 
lish  sense,  that  for  “house”  conveying  all  the 
meaning  given  by  that  nation  to  the  word  home. 
It  is  true  that  the  French  have  not  English  and 
American  homes,  but  it  is  hard  for  one  who  has 
read  of  some  phases  of  French  life,  and  who  has 
traveled  in  rural  France,  especially,  to  believe 
that  there  is  no  spirit  of  the  home  in  that  republic, 
however  lacking  the  language  in  adequate  ex¬ 
pression  of  this  charming  word. 

The  Spanish  language,  as  used  in  Mexico,  has 
somewhat  the  same  limitations  as  the  French,  in 
conveying  the  idea  of  home, — although  there  are 
expressions  corresponding  to  English  terms  for 
house,  dwelling,  domicile  and  others,  and,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  dictionaries,  Mexicans,  in  com¬ 
mon  speech,  rarely  use  any  other  word  for  home, 
except  that  meaning  house,  which  is  casa. 


4 


There  is  one  Spanish  word  which  to  me  always 
suggests  a  pleasant  idea,  and  which  is  used  in 
literature  to  convey  the  more  spiritual  idea  of  the 
intimacy  of  the  family  relation  in  the  house,  and 
this  word  is  Iiogar,  meaning  hearth.  Strange 
word  to  be  used  by  a  people  who  never  have  fire¬ 
places  in  their  houses,  and  who  do  not  know 
what  hearths  are,  as  we  use  the  word  !  Yet  “  El 
Hogar”  is  the  frequent  title  of  that  page  of  the 
newspaper  devoted  to  the  home  circle,  and  many 
Spanish  poets  have  glorified  the  hearth. 

I  have  dwelt  at  length  upon  this,  merely  to 
show  that  while  the  Spanish,  along  with  other 
languages,  may  seem  to  us  deficient  in  an  expres¬ 
sion  for  home-life,  the  idea  that  the  word  conveys, 
is  not  unknown  to  the  Mexicans,  and  their  homes 
are  homes,  although  not  conducted  in  accordance 
with  our  American  idea. 

The  missionary,  after  long  residence  in  Mexico, 
or  extensive  travel  through  the  Republic,  while 
“  opening  up  ”  the  work  here  and  there,  may  be¬ 
come  acquainted  with  a  few  families  of  the  better 
or  best  class,  but  as  a  rule,  he  works  and  lives 
identified  with  the  lower  class,  with  poor,  and  not 
always  “  respectable  ”  people. 

Let  us  in  the  first  place,  consider  the  home-life 
of  a  family  belonging  to  the  upper  and  wealthy 
class.  Such  families,  in  a  city,  sometimes  occupy 
an  entire  house,  or  they  may  use  suites  of  apart¬ 
ments  comprising  one  or  two  floors  of  the  house, 
renting  the  lower  floor  as  stores  or  shops,  and 


5 


having  a  private  entrance  and  staircase  for  their 
own  use. 

These  houses  are  of  stone  or  oi^adobe,  plastered 
over,  and  often  colored  blue,  yellow,  green  or 
gray.  Whether  of  one  or  several  stories  in  height 
they  are  always  built  around  a  court,  with  win¬ 
dows  and  doors  and  corridors  opening  upon  the 
court.  The  grim  exterior  of  many  of  the  houses, 
with  their  iron  barred  windows,  massive  entrances 
and  stone-paved  halls,  is  relieved  by  glimpses 
from  the  street,  into  the  court,  where  flowers 
bloom,  fountains  play,  and  statues  hide  among 
the  plants  and  orange  trees.  The  large  salas,  or 
parlors  of  these  houses  of  the  prosperous  are 
furnished  richly  if  somewhat  primly.  Costly  cur¬ 
tains  hang  at  the  windows,  and  brightly-dyed 
skins,  or  thick  carpets  are  spread  over  the  tiled 
floors.  There  are  pictures  on  the  walls,  and  long 
rows  of  chairs  are  arranged  against  the  walls 
facing  each  other,  while  at  the  end  of  the  room 
is  the  sofa,  the  seat  of  honor,  flanked  by  a  pair  of 
huge  arm  chairs  or  American  rockers.  A  centre 
table  holds  a  medley  of  curious  bric-a-brac,  of 
plaster  images,  marvellous  vases  filled  with 
grasses  or  topped  by  the  many  colored  glass 
balls  intended  for  beautifying  Christmas  trees, 
candle-sticks  and  lamps.  There  are  no  books  to 
be  seen  in  the  sala,  as  the  room  is  devoted  to  the 
reception  of  visitors  and  to  family  gatherings. 
In  the  breezy  corridors  the  ladies  of  the  house  sit 


*A  large  sun-dried  brick  of  a  gray  color. 


and  work  at  embroidery  and  other  sewing,  while 
the  men  ride  or  drive  out  to  the  haciendas  (farms,) 
or  spend  the  day  in  office  or  store. 

Breakfast  is  served  at  a  more  or  less  late  hour, 
and  is  a  slight  meal,  a  cup  of  coffee  and  bread 
being  what  is  u.sually  required,  and  while  some 
dine  at  one  o’clock,  many  lunch  lightly  at  that 
hour,  then  have  inerienda,  or  afternoon  lunch  of 
chocolate  and  buns  or  cakes,  and  dine  at  a  late 
hour  of  the  evening. 

The  evening  often  finds  happy  domestic  gather¬ 
ings  in  the  big  sala,  where  the  father  and  mother 
are  surrounded  by  their  children,  and  merry  con¬ 
versation  and  music  enliven  the  hours.  Often  the 
theatre,  concert,  ball,  or  promenade  in  the  electric 
lighted  plaza,  or  open  square,  interferes  with  the 
family  gathering  at  home,  as  the  senoritas  must 
be  chaperoned  by  the  mother,  aunt  or  other  female 
relation,  at  the  dance,  or  in  the  strolls  round  and 
round  the  beautiful  square.  In  the  plaza  the  de¬ 
lightful  music  of.  the  far  famed  Mexican  bands 
charms  the  ear  on  certain  evenings  of  each  week, 
the  night-blooming  jesssmine  and  the  orange- 
flowers  fill  the  air  with  fragrance,  and  the  geran¬ 
iums  and  marguerites,  grown  to  trees  in  size, 
throw  large  shadows  across  the  pavements  where 
the  promenaders  pace  to  and  fro,  the  gentlemen 
in  one  direction,  the  ladies  in  the  other,  constantly 
meeting,  constantly  passing  yet  rarely  exchanging 
a  word. 


Ten  o’clock  usually  finds  the  plazas  hushed  and 
the  streets  deserted  by  passers-by,  though  the 
lights  burn  late  in  the  home,  and  the  cook  and 
house-maids  are  still  clattering  dishes  in  the 
kitchen  when  the  town  clock  points  to  ten. 

Though  there  are  no  warm  hearth-stones  for 
the  Mexicans  in  winter,  the  sun  shines  always  in 
the  court  and  street,  and  for  warmth,  the  gentle¬ 
men  merely  muflfie  themselves  in  picturesque 
cloaks,  faced  with  velvet  or  plush,  while  the  ladies 
wrap  their  shawls  more  closely  about  their  heads 
and  shoulders,  and  out-of-doors,  even  wear  the 
wide-sleeved  imported  cloaks  with  their  Parisian 
bonnets.  In  summer  these  fortunate  ones  go  to 
watering-places  or  baths,  or  to  their  country- 
houses,  closing  the  town-houses  for  the  season. 

Many  travel  abroad,  to  the  United  States,  to 
France,  to  Spain. 

The  family  priest  is  a  familiar  and  trusted  friend, 
especially  among  the  women,  and  the  light  ocupa- 
tions  of  the  day — embroidery,  drawn-work  on 
linen,  and  perhaps  a  little  French  novel-reading, 
are  varied  by  attendance  upon  mass,  confession 
and  vesper  services. 

In  short,  the  home-life  and  pleasures  of  the 
so-called  better  class  of  Mexicans  resembles  that 
of  the  rest  of  their  brothers  and  sisters  of  a  like 
religion  and  civilization  in  other  countries. 

It  is  only  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  that  it 
has  been  considered  necessary  to  teach  the 
women  of  the  land  anything  beyond  a  knowledge 


8 


of  the  “saints’  lives’’  and  the  prayer-books,  a 
great  deal  of  exquisite  embroidery  and  a  little 
music  ;  therefore,  it  is  not  surprising  that  these 
are  behind  the  men  in  a  growing  liberality  of 
opinion,  and  that  they  are  still,  in  a  measure, 
ignorant  of  the  common  branches  of  knowledge 
and  religiously  superstitious. 

The  pleasures  and  occupations  of  the  middle 
class  are  those  of  the  higher  on  a  slighter  scale. 

In  attending  the  Sunday  bull  fights,  these  buy  ! 
their  tickets  for  “seats  in  the  sun’’  if  unable  to  , 
afford  those  “in  the  shade.’’  They  patronize  the 
six-cent  baths  rather  than  those  costing  twenty- 
five  cents.  The  women  of  this  class  wear  no 
hats,  always  using  black  shawls  instead,  and  they  ' 
often  work  to  help  in  the  support  of  their  families  I 
as  seamstresses,  milliners  and  teachers  in  the  ' 
public  schools. 

The  homes  of  this  class  are  clean  and  attractive.  ' 
If  no  other  picture  adorns  the  walls  of  the  home, 
some  representation  of  “  Mary  the  mother  of  j 
God  ”  hangs  there  ;  perhaps  a  picture  of  her  is  | 
found  in  every  room.  Instead  of  the  summer 
spent  at  San  Pedro,  or  a  winter  in  the  City  of 
Mexico,  an  outing,  or  paseo,  on  the  street  car 
once  a  week  is  ample  diversion  for  the  family  of  i 
the  middle  class.  From  many  cities  of  the  ! 
republic  the  mule  street-car  lines  run  out  into  the  ! 
country  for  many  miles  to  pleasant  spots  on  the  j 
river,  or  to  private  gardens,  which  may  be  hired 
by  the  year  at  a  moderate  cost,  or  to  the  delight- 


9 


ful  bathing  establishments,  where  baths  cost  from 
three  cents  upward.  As  the  years  pass,  many  of 
the  happy  middle  class  are  being  brought  to 
attend  our  mission  services,  and  now  and  then, 
here  and  there,  the  gospel  is  introduced  among 
them  by  the  conversion  from  Romanism  of  the 
thoughtful,  intelligent  father,  or  of  the  boy  or 
girl  in  attendance  upon  our  mission-schools.  True 
it  has  been  that  from  the  days  of  our  Saviour’s 
teaching  in  Syria  until  now,  where  we  are  trying 
to  fulfill  his  command  of  teaching  “all  nations,’’ 
to  the  poor  the  good  tidings  are  preached.  Per¬ 
haps  it  will  always  be  that  the  gospel  will  first  be 
preached  to  those  of  low  degree,  however  better 
those  of  higher  mental  culture  might  seem  to  us. 

Therefore,  I  turn  with  pleasure  to  the  homes  of 
those  among  whom  the  missionary  finds  his 
readiest  hearer.  These  homes  are  not  unworthy 
of  notice,  though  the  house-walls  are  of  adobe, 
the  floor  often  the  ground  upon  which  the  walls 
are  built,  and  the  furnishings  common  and  scarce. 
I  have  in  my  mind  one  home  which  may  serve  as 
an  example  of  hundreds  of  those  and  of  others 
belonging  to  the  poor,  yet  perhaps  not  the  most 
destitute  class. 

The  entrance  opens  directly  from  the  narrow 
sidewalk  into  a  hallway,  thence  into  a  wide  court¬ 
yard,  surrounded  by  the  rooms  of  the  house,  all 
of  which  are  of  one  story,  and  covered  with  a 
dingy,  crumbling  plaster.  Several  families  occupy 
this  house,  connected  or  not  by  ties  of  blood. 


10 


Entering  the  court  and  turning  to  the  left,  there 
is  a  doorway  leading  into  a  long  room  lighted  by 
this  doorway  and  a  small  window  high  in  the 
wall  and  overlooking  the  street.  The  earth-floor 
is  worn  into  holes  and  ridges  from  much  leaking 
of  the  roof  above  and  much  trampling  of  san¬ 
dalled  feet.  Here  the  family  spends  its  days  and 
nights.  The  father  makes  a  cheap  kind  of  beer, 
besides  working  at  the  huge  hand-and-foot  loom 
in  one  corner  of  the  room,  and  his  small  vat  and 
other  appliances  occupy  a  closet  opening  out  of 
the  larger  room.  Posts  here  and  there  support 
the  roof,  and  the  window  is  filled  with  bird  cages 
whose  little  occupants,  canaries  and  gold-finches, 
drown  my  voice  while  reading  or  speaking,  and 
from  their  nest  on  the  sill  tiny  white  mice  scamper 
over  my  hat  brim  and  tickle  my  shoulder. 

The  mother  and  daughters  work  all  day  long, 
winding  the  thread  from  hanks  of  dyed  cotton  on 
short  pieces  of  reeds,  to  be  slipped  into  the 
father’s  shuttle,  for  weaving  into  scarfs.  The 
busy  workers  sit  on  low  stools  and  turn  their 
wheels  often  in  silence,  yet  I  do  not  doubt  that 
grave  subjects  are  at  times  discussed  among 
them,  and  I  know  that  I  have  sometimes  seen  a 
New  Testament  and  a  pair  of  spectacles  lying 
conveniently  near  a  certain  wheel.  The  babies, 
little  grandchildren,  who  live  with  their  parents 
in  other  parts  of  the  house,  sprawl  on  the  floor  or 
slumber  in  their  mothers’  laps,  and  work  rarely 
pauses  during  the  whole  day  except  for  the  simple 


11 


preparation  and  eating  of  the  midday  meal  of 
beans  and  thin  cakes  of  cornmeal.  It  takes  many 
hours  of  hard  work  to  gain  even  the  few  cents 
needed  for  the  daily  wants  of  a  poor  Mexican 
family,  whether  the  work  be  thread-winding, 
blanket-weaving,  shawl-fringe  tying,  tortilla¬ 
making,  or  any  of  the  more  common  trades. 

In  the  house  described,  there  is  but  one  bed, 
hard  and  narrow.  I  never  learned  which  of  the 
family  occupied  that  post  of  honor  and  comfort, 
but  it  was  easy  to  understand  that  the  rest  simply 
folded  blankets  about  them  and  stretched  them¬ 
selves  upon  the  floor  at  night,  happy  if  possesing 
a  cushion  or  a  mat  of  reeds. 

Sometimes  I  found  the  family  at  work  in  the 
sunny  court-yard  with  the  blue  sky  overhead,  and 
hardy  flowers  blooming  in  boxes  and  pots  at 
their  feet.  The  love  of  the  Mexican  woman  for 
her  flowers  is  only  surpassed  by  her  intense  love 
for  her  children.  Here,  I  must  mention,  that  the 
making  of  flower-jars  is  a  branch  of  industry 
much  cultivated.  On  certain  days  in  the  week, 
donkeys  are  driven  in  from  the  small  ranches 
near  the  cities,  laden  with  immense  cargoes  of 
red  or  yellow  jars  of  every  size  and  shape,  to  be 
sold  at  the  markets,  from  a  cent  and  a  half,  in 
price,  up  to  several  dollars.  Large  bananna  trees 
are  raised  in  jars  of  the  largest  size,  and  the 
delicate  smilax  and  oxalis  in  the  graceful  little 
ones,  over  which  American  travelers  grow  wild 
and  extravagant.  The  poorest  family  will  have  a 


12 


green  plant  in  the  court,  even  if  it  be  nothing  i 
more  than  a  sprig  of  some  savory  herb,  to  season  | 
the  broth.  ^ 

Sundays  and  the  very  frequent  religious  and  j 
national  feast-days  are  observed  as  holidays  by  { 
all  classes,  and  no  work  is  done  from  eve  to  eve.  ! 
Stores  are  closed  and  the  streets  filled  with  care-  j 
less  and  happy  saunterers,  and  devout  church  ; 
goers,  while  ^ 

“Bells  make  Catholic  the  trembling  air.’’  j 

Bull-fight  and  theatre-plays  have  free  course  on  < 
such  days,  and  the  street  cars  are  thronged  with 
pleasure  seekers,  at  three  cents  each.  Returning  ;; 
home  at  sunset,  tired,  yet  contented,  they  lie  I 

down  to  sleep,  needing  but  an  inch  of  candle  to  >. 
light  them  to  their  respective  mats  or  beds. 

It  is  wonderful  to  find  how  many  homes  con¬ 
tain  a  relative,  not  one  of  the  immediate  family, 

— an  aged  grandparent,  an  aunt,  an  orphan  child, 
who  has  been  given  to  them  or  found  in  distress. 
The  patient,  kindly  Mexican  opens  his  door,  and  ' 
shares  his  *tortillas  with  the  needy,  and  believes  • 
that  he  is  pleasing  God,  and  thus  helping  to  save 
his  soul. 

The  Christian  home,  by  which,  I  mean  the 
Protestant  home,  where  parents  are  no  longer 
Roman  Catholics,  is  essentially  different  in  two 
respects  from  the  home  of  the  Romanist.  First, 
the  Bible  is  read  lovingly  and  studiously,  and  it 
is  often  the  only  book  possessed  beyond  the 

*Thin  corti-cake,  the  national  bread  of  Mexico.  ,  I 

■i-r 

■.  r  j; 

i.  I 


13 


paper-backed  school  books  of  the  children,  where 
the  children  can  be  spared  to  attend  scliool.  Sec¬ 
ondly,  Sunday  is  observed  as  a  day  of  sacred  rest, 
and  by  attendance  upon  worship  in  the  mission 
church.  The  children  and  adults  attend  Sunday 
school  and  preaching  services,  and  afterwards 
spend  the  rest  of  the  day  in  quiet  reading  or  talk¬ 
ing  in  their  homes,  until  the  evening  service, 
which  is  also  faithfully  attended.  As  the  years 
pass,  and  the  children  of  Protestants  marry,  and 
rear  families,  a  Protestant  ancestry  is  being  es¬ 
tablished.  Few  of  the  adult  members  of  our 
churches  have  had  Protestant  parents.  Remem¬ 
bering  this,  can  we  wonder  at  the  weakness  of 
some  of  our  Mexican  brothers  and  sisters  ?  Truly, 
the  heritage  of  Christian  foje  fathers  is  a  blessed 
one,  and  parenthetically  here,  I  would  urge  in¬ 
creased  interest  in  our  Madero  Institute  for  girls, 
and  the  Zaragoza  Institute  for  boys,  both  in 
Saltillo,  where  many  of  the  mothers  and  fathers 
of  the  coming  generation  of  Mexicans  are  being 
instructed,  not  only  in  the  Bible  and  Baptist 
doctrines,  but  also  in  the  principles  of  cleanliness, 
orderly  lives  and  loyalty  to  their  country. 

Since  the  partial  emancipation  of  Mexico  from 
the  rule  of  the  clergy,  legal  marriage  has  become 
possible  for  the  lower  classes.  The  exorbitant 
demands  of  the  priests,  in  former  times,  for  the 
payment  of  large  sums  upon  a  performance  of  the 
marriage  ceremony,  hindered  many  a  poor  man 
and  woman  from  taking  upon  themselves  any 


14 


VOWS  more  binding  than  those  imposed  by  their 
relations  to  each  other.  The  great  patriot  Juarez 
had  a  part  in  the  making  of  the  law  by  which  the 
rights  of  civil  marriage  were  restored  to  the  courts, 
so  that  the  marriage  ceremony,  performed  except 
by  a  civil  officer  is  no  longer  legal  according  to 
the  laws  of  Mexico. 

Naturally,  the  devout  Romanist  has  his  civil 
marriage  confirmed  or  introduced  by  a  religious 
ceremony  at  the  altar,  if  possible,  but  this  is  no 
longer  a  necessary  form. 

Those  who  have  been  living  out  of  wedlock 
under  such  compulsion  of  fate,  and  who  wish  to 
unite  with  our  mission-churches,  as  members  “in  ! 
good  standing,”  are  of  course  required,  before 
admission,  to  submit  to  the  legal  ceremony  of 
marriage,  and  it  makes  one  happy  to  realize  the 
greater  peace  and  security  resulting  to  both 
parties  in  such  a  transaction,  by  the  restraints  of 
a  wise  law  imposed  upon  them. 

A  volume  might  be  written  to  set  forth'  the 
many  interesting  points  in  the  home-life  of  the 
Mexicans,  impossible  to  be  touched  upon  in  this 
space.  I  have  not  yet  asked  you  to  enter  with 
me  the  home  of  the  utterly  destitute,  where  the 
worthless  father  drinks  up  the  earnings  of  sober  | 
days,  and  leaves  his  wife  to  work  her  fingers  to  j 
to  the  bone  at  fringe-tying,  or  corn-grinding,  I 
while  the  children  beg  in  the  streets,  where  the 
miserable  one  room  of  the  family  is  bare  even  of 
mats,  and  a  chair  has  to  be  borrowed  from  a 


15 


neighbor,  when  the  missionary  visitor  arrives,  and 
where  the  tortillas  are  few  and  far  between. 

To  such,  however,  especially  to  such,  are  the 
good  tidings  to  be  borne,  and  for  such,  a  welcome 
is  always  ready  at  the  mission-house.  I  have 
seen  a  work-worn  mother  wipe  the  tears  from  her 
eyes,  with  a  corner  of  her  dirty  cotton  shawl, 
while  listening  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the 
mission-chapel,  and  I  have  been  convinced  by  the 
sight,  that  to  such  as  she,  to  the  “poor”  and  the 
“meek”  the  word  of  God  is  sent  through  us. 

May  God  who  “  always  leadeth  us  in  triumph 
in  Christ,”  “  manifest  through  us  the  savour  of  his 
knowledge  in  every  place”  and  home  in  fair 
Mexico ! 

J'  Janie  Prichard  Duggan, 
Wake  Forest,  N.  C. 


Mi55ion^ry  H('Iper5. 


KIND  WORDS,  the  Sunday  School  paper  pub¬ 
lished  by  the  Sunday  School  Board  of  Southern 
Baptist  Convention,  has  its  fourth  page  in  every 
issue  devoted  to  missions.  From  month  to  month, 
S.  B.  C.  fields.  Home  and  Foreign,  are  presented. 
A  program,  invaluable  to  Band  leaders,  appears 
in  the  first  number  of  each  month,  with  a  cate¬ 
chism  upon  the  country  under  study.  Missionary 
blackboard  exercises  of  simple  yet  most  suggest¬ 
ive  design  are  regularly  furnished.  The  other 
contents  are  varied  in  form — descriptions  of 
country,  peoples,  religions,  sketches  of  mission¬ 
aries,  with  suitable  stories.  Southern  Baptist 
Sunday  Schools  will  keep  their  young  people  in 
touch  with  S.  B.  C.  through  this  paper.  Mission 
workers  cannot  afford  to  do  without  it.  Weekly 
issue,  50  cents  per  annum. 


THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE’S  LEADER  is  a  bright, 
wide-awake  publication,  prepared  for  young 
people.  It,  too,  has  a  valuable  missionary  depart¬ 
ment,  in  line  with  S.  B.  C.  missions.  A  weekly; 
75  cents  per  annum.  Sample  copies  sent,  free, 
on  application  to  Baptist  Sunday  School  Board, 
Nashville,  Tenn. 


